


The Princess Ball

by seakilthane (IzzyMeadows)



Category: Bakuten Shoot Beyblade, Beyblade
Genre: Crossdressing, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Mutual Pining, it's all thanks to mao, this is just to make rei flustered
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-06
Updated: 2018-07-06
Packaged: 2019-06-06 07:18:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15189653
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IzzyMeadows/pseuds/seakilthane
Summary: Mr. Daitenji thinks it’s a good idea to throw a costume party. Mao thinks it’s a good idea to choose Rei’s costume. Rei thinks nothing is a good idea, but he could be wrong.





	The Princess Ball

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: _Beyblade_ is not mine and I obviously don’t earn anything by writing this, except having fun and practicing my English.
> 
> This is my first fic in English, and I never thought I would write ANYTHING in English (aside from tweets and instagram posts), so this is kind of magical lol Also, it's not beta-read and I feel I need a native English beta reader sooooo bad.
> 
> Ok, seriously. I’m pretty sure this is badly written, but I only know how to write in Spanish, so you will have to settle for this while I practice and get better (if I ever do, who knows).
> 
> I just wanted to write Rei being a cute and shy princess. I’m not sorry. So aren’t you, that’s why you’re here. Have fun and let’s not be sorry together!

_“I don’t know why I can’t keep my eyes off of you.”_

Lifehouse: _You And Me_.

* * *

 

Kon Rei didn’t really know how he had ended like this, with a pink hairband taking his bangs away from his face and Mao applying eyeshadow on him.

He did know this was her idea, but didn’t remember why he had agreed. He had found it cute, he guessed, but now he was actually doing it and had to admit it got him nervous. He had never done anything remotely similar to this (nor would in the future, probably). He didn’t know how to go in there and act like a regular person and have fun _like this_. Mao had just started making him up and he was already a bit anxious. He couldn’t help thinking it was going to be a disaster. People would make fun of him and now he was too self conscious to endure it without feeling bad.

Gods, he needed to calm down.

“Stop overthinking, Rei-nii!”

He opened his eyes to look at Mao, pretending to be gravely offended. Of course she had to notice his uneasiness: she was his best friend, like his sister, since forever.

“I’m not overthinking.” (He definitely was, but it wasn’t like he could help it really.)

“You’re always overthinking” she stated calmly. “I can tell because you won’t stop moving your feet. Try to pull yourself together, won’t you? It’s going to be great. You’ll be gorgeous, you’ll have a good time and everything will be fine. Take a deep breath and relax, OK? Now close your eyes again, I haven’t finished this.”

She was so calm and collected, so confident, that Rei actually felt better. He stopped looking at his makeup on the mirror, closed his eyes and tried to breathe deeply and relax. Everything would be fine. Nobody would laugh at him, let alone his friends. And least of all his crush.

“Why are you taking so long, anyway? My eyes aren’t that big.”

Mao took a little of a darker eyeshadow and began applying it on the outer part of his left eyelid. “So what? Do you want me to do it fast and mess it up?”

“No.” The least thing he wanted was a badly made up face with which he would look like a raccoon or something uglier.

“Then let me work!”

 _I don’t even know why I listened to this idea of yours, it’s not going to work_ , Rei thought, but didn’t want to say it aloud. He couldn’t back down now, even if he was starting to freak out.

Mao touched his hair gently, tucking a stray lock behind his ear.

“Don’t worry, Rei-nii” she said softly, “it’s going to be OK.”

* * *

It all began when Mr. Daitenji announced the BBA was holding a party to celebrate its second anniversary since the G Revolutions took down Volkov and BEGA.

That alone wasn’t so bad; Rei actually thought it would be a perfect chance to relax and have fun with his friends in a way a bit different from usual. But when the old man added it would be a costume party, he automatically changed his mind.

“What’s the matter, Rei?” Takao asked enthusiastically. “Don’t you like parties?”

Rei shrugged, trying to seem unfazed, though he was already starting to feel self-conscious, even when he didn’t even plan to dress up.

“Too many people for me” he explained, which was only partially true. “I don’t like the costume thing much either…”

“But that’s the funniest part!”

“I don’t think it is indispensable for us to dress up” the Professor said. “If you want to go, you should, even without a costume. I’m sure Kai won’t wear one either.”

Kai didn’t even blink. Not that he needed to do anything to agree with the Professor. And with Rei, who was pretty sure he would look ridiculous in any costume.

Though Max, of course, didn’t care about such things. Max knew no fear, least of all the fear of making a fool of himself.

“Well, I love the idea - it’s like Halloween! And dressing up is super fun! Right, Takao?”

“Right! I’ll be a samurai!” Takao shouted joyfully. “Gramps’ll help me!”

“I’m sure he’ll want to come and dress up as a samurai too… I think I’ll go as a pirate” Hiromi said.

“You should go as a witch instead” Takao whispered.

Hiromi then proceeded to show him her skills with a sword. It wasn’t very pirate-like, for she used one of the wooden swords that hanged on the wall, but all the boys came to the same conclusion: she was more of a samurai than Kinomiya.

“But don’t you prefer to dress up as a queen or something, Hiromi-chan? I’m sure you would look very cute!” asked Max, trying to change the mood and save Takao’s life.

It worked: Hiromi dropped the wooden sword and sat down again. She had liked the queen idea. And Max saying she would look cute. But the pirate costume was so appealing…

“I’ll be a pirate queen!” she announced to the world.

“ _Great!_ Will you take a parrot?”

She looked at Max with her eyebrows raised.

“Where do you want me to get a parrot?”

“In a pet shop?” he shrugged. “Anyway, I want to be a prince! And Kai should go as a ninja!”

“I won’t even go,” Hiwatari declared, closing his eyes to avoid Takao’s disappointed face.

Maybe Rei should do the same, but he was too amused.

“I’ll be the ninja then!” squawked Daichi.

“Awww, Kai, you’re a killjoy. Rei, you have to come then! We need you there.”

Max was looking at him with a wide smile and his blue eyes looked bigger than ever.

Yes, Rei thought, he should have closed his eyes when Kai did, because he couldn’t possibly say no to that puppy face. Damn Max and his crushing cuteness.

“Alright” he sighed dramatically, “if you need me, I’ll be there.”

* * *

Of course, they weren’t the only ones to go to the infamous party: it seemed every beyblader they had ever met had been invited, aside from other people they didn’t know (and were not very interested in, to be honest). Soon the main activity for the group, after beyblading, was trying to guess who was going to be present and who wasn’t. Takao was absolutely sure about the Russians not going, especially after Kai repeated he didn’t plan to attend, so it was a surprise that they said they would be there. Max just hoped his mom and American friends would be there. One morning he came sporting a grin so radiant that it made the sun seem dark and confirmed their assistance. Rei wanted to hug him. He obviously didn’t, but Max’s good mood was contagious to everyone, including Kai. So there were no hugs, but a lot of grins and fond looks… and not just from Rei to Max, although he never noticed the blond boy staring at him with a gentle smile on his face.

Rei hadn’t even considered the idea of Max reciprocating his feelings and was fairly sure the blond boy wouldn’t ever think of that either, so why should he mind? His crush would probably fade away if given the time.

Then his friends from the Byakko clan told him they would go to the party and, of course, Mao had something to say about Rei’s perfect plan to use his very acceptable and not ridiculous everyday outfit for the party. Specifically a “you can’t go to a costume party without a costume” to which Rei felt very tempted to answer “watch me”.

He didn’t though: he was too polite for that. In fact, he told her to come up with a proper costume for him if she was so worried, and then Mao started plotting. He didn’t mean it when he said it, but now he didn’t have the heart to disappoint her.

And maybe her idea wouldn’t be so bad.

Except she knew too much about him, his heart and his feelings and went directly for the worst potential disaster.

And they were now at it, getting him ready to go to the party dressed as a princess to match Max. It would be a disaster and Max would find it just funny. Or maybe not, but he definitely wouldn’t find him attractive or something.

“I’m not really sure if this is a good idea” Rei said, looking at the mirror.

He had to admit he looked good with the grey and blue eyeshadow and a slight pink shade on his lips though. Mao was good at this.

“Why not? He’ll go as a prince and he’ll need his princess” Mao shrugged with a proud smile. “And you look pretty.”

“I must admit you did a good job…”

“What’s up then?” She took a brush. “You’ll have to sit again, I need to do your hair.”

He sat down again and let her take away the hairband and start brushing his mane. Mao loved combing his hair and she was always extra careful, so Rei also loved it. It was relaxing, something he needed so bad right now.

“Won’t he find it weird?” he voiced his fear at last.

“It’s Max, Rei-nii. Why should he?”

“Because it is?”

“You’re too intense. He’s probably the most open minded person I have ever met… Maybe even too open minded! I’m sure he’ll like you.”

“I’m sure I shouldn’t have talked to you about my crush.”

She hit his shoulder with the brush. “Don’t be mean!”

Rai poked his head out the door. “Aren’t you two ready yet?”

“Ask your sister - I’m in her capable hands” Rei answered with a soft smile.

“You look good. How much time will it take, Mao?”

She was putting half of his hair in a big but simple bun and didn’t even look at her older brother. “I’m finishing! You can help if you want” she offered him the brush. “Just comb the rest while I do this.”

Rai and Rei looked at each other. Rai took the hairbrush. Rei admitted to himself that he loved to be spoiled like this.

Everything would be fine, and if it wasn’t, he had his friends to comfort him.

* * *

They had been at the party for at least half an hour and there was no sign of Rei’s presence, so Takao was a bit bothered. Just a bit.

“He said he would come! Where on Earth is he?”

Max was wondering the same thing, but tried to calm his friend with a joke.

“Well, he didn’t say he would come on time…”

“Even I came on time!”

“You didn’t” Hiromi said, “you were fifteen minutes late. And you should take your hat off! Samurai never wore hats.”

“I don’t care! I like my hat. And Rei is later than me!”

“You’re a failure as a samurai, Takao” Daichi said with a mischievous grin.

“You’re a failure as a ninja!” Takao answered immediately. “You’re too noisy for a ninja!”

Hiromi rolled her eyes. “Can’t you stop yelling?”

“I’m not yelling!” Takao yelled. “I just speak loudly!”

“Samurai didn’t speak loudly, so you’re a failure as a samurai!” Daichi pointed at him with a big grin on his face.

The Professor sighed.

Hiromi sighed.

Max was about to sigh, but he didn’t because the sudden loud voices at the hall caught his attention.

“What’s happening there…?”

Hiromi and the Professor looked at him, then at Takao and Daichi and then again at him. Then the three of them went towards the hall without a single word, leaving the others to fight by themselves.

What was happening were the Byakko clan, and more specifically Rei. Max didn’t even see him nor Mao at first, for they were sort of trapped in a small circle of curious people. Hiromi was the first one to see them and got closer.

“Rei’s there!” she pointed at the circle.

The Professor and Max joined her. Mao was smiling proudly, wearing black pants, sneakers and a crop top, with a sweatshirt tied at her hips. She looked like an American street dancer. Rei… well, the three friends had to stare for a bit to make sure it was him, cause his makeup and hairdo made him look pretty different from usual. He wore a long, silky hanfu dress that hid his feet and made him look a little shorter, and was quite flustered by all the unexpected attention he was drawing.

“I thought you weren’t going to dress up!” Hiromi told him.

“I wasn’t, but… Well… Mao can be very convincing.”

“But it’s worth it, right?” Mao said.

“You look good, Rei!”

He smiled.

“You too, captain Hiromi.”

She wore a white dress shirt with a dark corset over it, and a skirt with an uneven hem, longer behind and shorter at the front, and she did look good in them.

“Queen Hiromi!” She touched her pirate hat with two fingers and then took his wrist. “Wait till Max sees you. He could be your prince Charming!”

Rei’s heart skipped a beat and he looked at Mao, asking silently for her help. She just smiled, waved her hand and winked at him. _Traitor…_

Hiromi took him to where the Professor and Max were waiting. Rei blushed just looking at his blonde friend.

The Professor had just put on a white coat to dress up as a lab scientific, so he could be comfortable. On the other hand, Max had obviously put a good effort on his costume - he looked like he had just come out of a fairytale book. He was the perfect embodiment of the prince Charming, dressed in black and pale blue, with shining boots and a velvety blue cloak over his jacket and tight pants. He was too cute for Rei’s good. More than cute: he was awesomely handsome tonight, especially when he looked at his friends and his eyes sparkled a bit.

Rei had fallen for him a couple of years ago (or even more, without knowing), but now he found himself falling over again… but deeper.

And then Max smiled happily and asked:

“Are you my princess?”

And Rei felt suddenly weak at the knees. He wanted to hug Max and never let him go. Instead, he blushed even more and answered a quiet “I guess”.

* * *

“What a beauty we have here!”

Rei was startled by the voice and the hand suddenly taking his, and even more surprised when he realized they belonged to Giancarlo.

Of course he would be there, why wouldn’t he? There were a lot of girls to flirt with and he had the opportunity to wear a flashy outfit. He wore a long, white robe with golden embroidery and bays on his head, so Max and Rei guessed he was dressed as a Roman emperor or something on the same lines.

“Your face looks familiar” he said with a sweet voice, “do we know each other, beautiful lady?”

Max chuckled happily. “Oh, it’s your first wooer here! Congratulations! Hi Giancarlo.”

“Hi Max. Who’s your lovely date?”

Rei gave Max a scowl and then turned to Giancarlo. “We do know each other… and I’m afraid I’m not a lady, I’m Rei. Neither am I Max’s date” he said, much to his own disappointment.

He wanted to look calm and collected, but he had flushed a bit and felt quite embarrassed.

“Oh sorry, I hadn’t recognized you!” Giancarlo said _without releasing his hand_. “But that’s good too! You look stunning tonight. Do you want to dance?”

Rei lost what little cool he had left. He opened his mouth to answer, but his mind went blank and he just stood there, staring at the Italian boy with the most confused face he had ever made. Max laughed again, looked at him and took his other hand.

“Sorry, his first dance shall be with me! He’s _my_ date after all!”

And he dragged him away from Giancarlo with the most innocent smile on his lips. Rei stayed as confused as before, and looked at Max arching his eyebrows.

“So now I’m your date?”

“Why? Did you want to dance with Giancarlo? I thought I was being a good prince by rescuing you, my princess - you didn’t look pretty willing…”

“I didn’t, but…” Rei stopped himself before saying anything he would regret.

What would he say anyway? “I’m starting to get excited by this but I don’t want to expect more than what you’re willing to give”? Not the best he could say.

“But…?”

Rei bit his lip.

“Nothing” he muttered. “I just wasn’t expecting that.”

“But you’re not mad, are you?”

Rei gave him a soft smile. _Don’t hug him._

“Of course not!”

The blond boy smiled as well and reached out to him.

“Then… may I have this dance, my princess?” he asked lively.

_Gods, make him stop._

If he kept calling him “his princess”, Rei would probably spend all night blushing and screaming internally, which were terrible things to happen. He needed to keep his cool, it didn’t matter that he wasn’t used to being flirted with at all. And Max wasn’t flirting, was he? He sure was just being Max. He couldn’t possibly be flirting _with him_ , even with the whole prince and princess thing. And the request of dancing. He was just being nice to a friend and trying to have fun, and so must he.

“Will you stop that?” he sighed, pretending to be bothered by the pet name, though oh, did he want to be his princess for real. “Besides, I don’t even know how to dance.”

Max gently took his hand, wearing a sweet, reassuring smile.

“You don’t need to.”

Before Rei even realized it, he was dancing (or more accurately, trying to dance) with one of Max’s hands on his waist and the other one holding his own.

“Just follow the rhythm” Max instructed, still smiling. “Don’t look down, okay? Look at me.”

Rei nodded and tried not to look at his hidden feet. At least looking at Max was easy, being so cute and all. He would be happy looking at him forever, especially when he smiled like this. He seemed to be enjoying the dance a lot, so Rei tried to soothe his nerves and just have a good time.

Which ended up being harder than it seemed, because Rei couldn’t dance to save his life and stepped on Max’s feet too many times. _Too. Many. Times._ In fact, even Max wanted to stop after a while, though he said it so sweetly that Rei didn’t even feel embarrassed by his own clumsiness.

“Wow, you really don’t know how to dance. Maybe next time you should relax a little”, Max suggested. “You held my hand a bit tight. I’m not gonna fly!”

He laughed, and Rei chuckled with him.

“Do you want something to drink?” he offered.

“Sure, let’s go!”

Max ordered a soda and Rei settled for water. He needed it. Drinking water always helped him easing his nerves. He felt better though: he had had fun dancing with Max and it was always comfortable to be with him. Maybe that was one of his main reasons to like him. Max was the perfect person to have a good time with: he had the best sense of humour and was pretty easygoing. Rei didn’t know when nor how he had started feeling attracted to him, but by now he thought it couldn’t have been helped. Max was the kind of person he liked the most.

“Don’t you want something tastier than just water?” Max asked.

Rei smiled.

“I’m fine! I’m really thirsty and water is the best for that.”

“Dancing is more tiring than it seems, isn’t it?” Max winked.

Rei laughed quietly.

“I don’t really know, but trying to dance without stepping on you? Sure.” He looked at Max’s boots. They weren’t so shiny after some unfortunate encounters with Rei’s feet. “Sorry about that.”

“It’s OK! I’m not hurting. You’re gentle even when stepping on my feet, don’t worry!”

“That’s probably the most original compliment I’ve ever been given.”

“I’m pretty original myself!”

“Yes, you are indeed…”

Rei didn’t see the adoring look in Max’s eyes, even if Max, unlike him, wasn’t hiding at all. In fact, he was fairly sure a lot of people knew of his huge crush on Rei, even Takao (if only because he had actually told him). He just didn’t care. He had little to no problem with talking to others about it. And now he was shamelessly flirting with Rei, but he didn’t seem to notice and Max was starting to consider kissing him right here, right now. He was absolutely breathtaking tonight and Max needed him to be his princess forever.

Rei touched his shoulder lightly, startling him, and then he saw Boris Kuznetsov, dressed like a soldier, big and intimidating, just in front of him. He looked at his friend and then at the Russian boy, together with Ivan and Sergei who were also dressed as soldiers. Boris was checking Rei out with no shame whatsoever, a smirk on his lips and a wicked glint in his eyes. He whistled.

“You’re fucking hot, princess.”

Rei stepped backwards without thinking at all.

“I-I’m not” he stuttered, kind of shocked by the look on Boris’ face.

Sergei punched Boris’ arm.

“Stop scaring the kids, Boris.”

“It was a fucking compliment, Sergei.”

“He doesn’t seem exactly flattered, you know.”

Ivan was just looking at them, apparently indifferent to the potential hassle he was witnessing. Max looked at Rei, whose face was now a bit pale.

“Are you OK?” he asked quietly.

“Y-yes, I just…”

“Hey, calm down, kid, I won’t rape you” Boris said, dead serious.

Sergei punched his arm again. This time Ivan did the same with the other arm.

“Of course you won’t!” Rei almost yelled, half frightened, half mad.

“I’d ask for your consent first.”

“What” Ivan said, confused.

“What” Sergei said, shocked.

“What” Rei said, flustered.

“What” Max said, dumbfounded.

“Boris” Yuriy said coldly, coming from behind them, “shut the fuck up.”

Boris looked at him with an almost scary scowl. Or actually scary, but not for Ivanov, of course.

“Damn it, Yuriy, I’m _praising him!_ ”

“Yeah” Yuriy side eyed Rei, “he fucking loves it, obviously.”

Rei wanted to say he really didn’t mind and was just a bit dumbstruck, but he couldn’t raise his voice over the Russians’ bickering. Fortunately, Max spoke first.

“Should we go, Rei?” he asked kindly.

He nodded, still confused. He left his empty glass on the counter and allowed Max to take him outside. He took a deep breath. His blonde friend was looking ad him with a worried grimace on his face.

“Do you feel better now?”

Rei nodded again.

“I’m fine, don’t worry. I’m just… He took me by surprise. Nobody had ever told me they wanted to… you know…” He blushed at the thought.

“That was unexpected” Max admitted. “And that rape joke was terrible, why would anybody say that?”

“I think that wasn’t even a joke. Just the worst way to calm someone down _ever_.”

Now it was Max who nodded.

“Yes, possibly. Or he just has the darkest sense of humour… But… You got pretty flustered with Giancarlo too” he noted with a playful grin, trying to lift the mood.

Rei sat on the floor and looked at him from there. Max went down immediately to sit beside him.

“Are you _teasing me?_ ” Rei asked in an incredulous voice.

“Yes” Max smiled even wider.

“You’re mean.”

“You’re cute” Max confessed. “Getting all flustered when people hit on you and all. One would think you’d be the flirty one!”

“Why would anyone think that? I’m basically a huge beyblade nerd. I haven’t even tried to flirt in my life. And I’m not cute!”

Max laughed lively and slapped his shoulder lightly.

“It’s painfully obvious you’re not the flirty type! You _are_ cute though, my princess.”

Rei snorted. He stood up again, dusting his hanfu, and looked at the sky to keep himself from looking at Max. He was sure he was blushing again and didn't want his friend to see it. He didn’t reply. He was confused, because Max did seem to be flirting with him, but why the hell would Max flirt with him of all people? He wouldn’t. And he was also worried cause he hated losing his cool like he had with Boris, who had probably been just teasing him for fun, when he really should have laughed it off. Now Max was making fun of him, and probably thinking he was pretty childish, wich was definitely not something he wanted him to think.

_Thanks a lot, Boris._

“Are you mad at me?” Max was now standing beside him. “You did say you were my princess.”

Rei looked at him and smiled fondly. He was physically unable to be mad at Max for more than ten seconds. But if he wanted to play this game, then Rei sure could do it too. And why not have some fun playing the princess role? After all, his prince was his crush. It would be a pleasant game, even if Max didn’t actually reciprocate his feelings.

It might be good to pretend for one night.

“I’m not mad” he said softly. “And… I’m your princess, I guess. Which means” now the one smirking playfully was him “that _you_ are _my_ prince and you should do something for me, as princes do in fairytales.”

Max instantly entered the game. He bowed gracefully to him, which Rei found quite charming, and offered him his hand.

“What do you ask of your prince, oh beautiful hanfu princess?”

Rei, obviously, blushed. But he had started this and now he had (and wished) to play along. He carefully put his hand on top of Max’s.

“Can you teach me how to dance?”

“Here? There’s no music…”

“There are no people, too. I’ll be more at ease. Please, my prince?”

Max smiled and squeezed his hand.

“I’ll do anything for my beloved princess.”

He didn’t know if Rei was playing a role or daring at least to try to be his princess for real, but for now, he didn’t care. He would be the best prince and have the best time, and then he would wonder about Rei’s true intentions and ask himself if he should go for his oh so desired kiss.

For now, he had a lovely princess to spoil.

* * *

They danced for a long time, maybe hours, carefully touching each other, Max humming makeshift tunes to dance to. Rei was silent, focused, moving smoothly to the rhythm of Max’s soft singing. He didn’t even know if this qualified as dancing, but soon he found he didn’t care. All there was were Max and him, so close, so warm, so intimate that it was almost suffocating.  
For all they cared, the world could be just this small fragment of the garden, their own soundtrack sung by Max, and them both, being together in a way that felt familiar and odd at the same time.

“You’re starting to catch it” Max whispered after a long while, as if he was afraid of breaking something if he raised his voice.

“You’re a good teacher” Rei muttered, squeezing his hand.

“Anything for you, my princess.”

Had Max winked? Wasn’t his hold on his waist stronger? He had definitely returned his squeeze, but Rei wondered if he had imagined the rest.

He bit his lip.

 _Gods, he’s flirting with me._ His heart was racing. _He’s really flirting with me, what should I do now?_

Max, apparently (just apparently) unaware of Rei’s sudden nervousness, tried to go a little further and intertwined their fingers. “You’re trembling…”

“Am I? I’m a bit nervous” the Chinese boy answered honestly.

“Do you want to go inside?”

“No.” Rei looked at the sky. The night was clear and the stars were perfectly visible. It was a beautiful sight. “This is nice.”

“It is” Max wasn’t looking at the stars, but at his friend. “So beautiful.”

And Rei, again, didn’t notice. It was starting to get maddening. He looked down and stared at Max’s big blue eyes and gave him his first wide smile of the night.

“I didn’t tell you before, but… You look pretty good tonight.”

“I was starting to think you’d never say it!”

Rei blinked and tilted his head, with a bemused look.

“What?”

“Well, I told you you’re a beautiful princess, I was hoping you would return my compliment, as kind as you are.”

Rei shook his head, laughing.

“I can’t believe you!”

Max giggled a bit with him, but freed his hand.

Rei, though, didn’t have even the time to wonder why, as Max hugged his waist and rested his head on his shoulder.

“I’m having so much fun with you, my princess…”

Rei carefully wrapped his arms around his shoulders. He didn’t answer. He didn’t even want to think of a proper answer, easy as it might seem - he just wanted to enjoy Max’s embrace for a while and try to calm his racing heart.

And maybe eat something, cause his stomach was starting to feel too empty. In fact, it grumbled, which made Max let him go and chuckle. It totally ruined the mood.

“Let’s go grab something to eat.”

Rei couldn’t help letting out an embarrassed giggle. “Sorry…”

“You don’t have to apologize for being hungry, my princess!”

“No, I’m not… Honestly, I’m apologizing for ruining the mood” Rei admitted without looking at him. “I was having fun too.”

He was slightly blushing again; he looked positively adorable. Max took his hand again and yanked softly. “No problem, eating’s also fun! And we’ll find Takao and the others there, I’m sure.”

* * *

In fact, Takao and the others were there. Kinomiya hadn’t eaten too much yet, even for Hiromi’s standards, given her total indifference.

Well, maybe she was ignoring Takao’s lack of manners to scold Daichi for calling her an old hag again, but that was a small, unimportant detail.

Kinomiya abandoned his food, though, when he saw Max and Rei coming close and holding hands. He strided towards them, waving his arms energically.

“Hey, you came at last! Where in the world were you two?” He stopped dry when he saw Rei’s costume better. “Wow, Rei, what’s that?”

“We were in the garden and this is a hanfu” the aforementioned answered with a smile. “Sorry, I wasn’t feeling good and Max was kind enough to take me outside. Regarding my outfit, Mao was positive I’d look good dressed as a princess and I’m. Well. Weak” he finished with a snicker.

Takao looked him up and down and gave him a wide smile.

“You’re super cute!”

“You look like a princess!” Daichi said after hearing exactly nothing from Rei’s explanation.

“Yeah, well, that’s pretty much the purpose of this, so thank you Daichi!”

The short boy got close to him and touched the soft fabric of the hanfu. He took one of the wide sleeves and then a strand of Rei’s hair. Afterwards he got on the table and stared at his makeup.

“Did you paint your face?”

Max, Hiromi and Takao were sniggering at Daichi’s inquisitiveness. Rei was pretty amused himself, yet he found it endearing.

“Mao did it actually” he explained kindly.

“But it’s not paint! It’s makeup” the Professor added.

Daichi looked at him and then again at Rei’s face. He nodded.

“This makeup thing makes your eyes seem bigger and that’s weird.” He got off the table and took a meat bun. “It’s pretty tho.”

Rei smiled and picked two meat buns, handing one of them to Max, who accepted it happily.

* * *

“Your lipstick is gone, my princess” Max said, offering Rei his hand once more.

The music was more upbeat now and the blond boy was already moving rhythmically.

“Bye then, lipstick” Rei answered lively.

He took Max’s hand and tried to keep up with him, which was rather difficult for someone who hadn’t even tried to dance to this kind of music before. Max giggled at his clumsiness, but he liked this Rei better than his timid self from before. He was back to being calm and confident as usual, though he kept blushing every now and then, sometimes at a “my princess”, sometimes at a touch or a smile. It was totally cute and endearing, and Max was fairly sure that his current ease had to do with the food. And maybe with the absence of wooers (except for himself, but Rei wouldn’t notice after all).

“Do you feel better without it?” he teased, grinning widely.

“No, I feel better with my stomach full” chuckled Rei. “I hadn’t eaten exactly a lot today. You’re still mean, you know?”

“Me? Never! I’m a prince Charming” Max smiled innoncently and it was pretty charming indeed. “Why didn’t you eat?”

“I did, just… little. I guess I was nervous. As I am now cause I don’t want to step on you again” he joked.

“I’m glad to hear it, my princess, and I love you even more for that” Max winked at him, dancing smoothly, moving his hips rhythmically in a way impossible for Rei to get his eyes off. He almost didn’t hear what he had just said, entranced by Max’s graceful moves.

Almost.

He went still and forced himself to keep his eyes on Max’s face and not on his waist and hips.

“Y-you what?” he asked with the tiniest voice.

He didn’t want to think about how his own face must look. On the other hand, Max seemed to be very happy to have this much effect on him.

“You know” he said sweetly, “I’m grateful that you don’t want to hurt me, my princess. Have I been too effusive?”

_If you don’t get this, I don’t know what else I can tell you, gods, why are you so dense?_

“Yes” Rei whispered breathlessly.

And Max just sighed.

The music changed then, going slower again. The lights were also lowered, creating a more intimate atmosphere. He smiled and took Rei’s hands in this.

“If I say I’d love to have one last dance with you, will it be also too effusive?”

He noticed the soft squeeze of Rei’s warm fingers on his and squealed softly when his friend yanked him and touched his waist.

“Can I take the lead now?” he asked quietly.

“I’m all yours to lead, my princess.”

Max’s hand wasn’t on Rei’s shoulder as it should be, but on his nape, warm and solid there, his fingers tangled with silky strands of hair, his other hand steadily attached to Rei’s, and the aforementioned’s other hand barely touching his waist. Time stopped when they started moving, looking at each other’s faces, both with silly smiles and hoping to say with them what they wouldn’t voice.

“Shouldn’t they get married or something?” Daichi commented.

“If Kai was here, he’d be rolling his eyes so hard” Takao chuckled.

“But he never said anything about this!”

“As if he needed to! I’m sure he knew - he was always silently judging everyone, so he must’ve noticed those two being idiots in love. Even I noticed!”

“You didn’t - Max told you” the Professor corrected him. “Though I’m sure Kai did notice.”

“Kai knew _everything_ ” Takao said with an emphatic nod.

“Don’t speak as if he’s dead!” Hiromi pushed him.

The music stopped then, signaling the end of the party, though some people kept moving for a bit.

Max and Rei were nearly hugging. They did stop dancing, but couldn’t be bothered to part for a long while. Max was the first to break away, without getting his hands off his friend’s neck. He smiled sweetly.

“Rei…”

“I think I’ve almost mastered this dancing thing” Rei muttered, forehead resting on the juncture between Max’s neck and shoulder.

“You’ve totally mastered dancing with _me_ \- we should do it more often, don’t you agree, my princess?”

Rei chuckled softly and looked at him directly.

“Maybe you could give me some lessons then.”

“I will. In exchange, could you be my princess for a little bit more?”

“I don’t know… this costume is getting a bit uncomfortable.”

Max sighed. _How hopeless can you be?_

“I didn’t mean that” he whispered, looking deeply into Rei’s eyes.

Rei blushed. _Again._ It couldn’t be. Max couldn’t be asking him out, or could he?

He _had_ flirted with him a couple of times, but Rei had deemed it a part of their little roleplaying game.

But now he looked dead serious and… maybe it wasn’t a game anymore?

“Are you… flirting with me?” he asked guardedly.

Max closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

“I have been for the whole night actually, you silly princess.”

“Gods, Max” Rei tightened his hug on his friend’s waist.

“You’ve been driving me crazy for hours” Max whispered in his ear, giving him a goosebump.

He couldn’t help but laugh.

They walked outside holding hands, fidgety and happy and a bit uncertain.

“So…” Max started. “Will you still be my princess tomorrow?”

“I’ll be your princess forever.”

Max smiled and went on his tiptoes. Rei noticed his warm breath on his lips before getting the small peck. He immediatly cupped Max’s face and returned it, and so they went on, sharing little kisses all over each other’s face without caring at all about being seen.

When the Chinese team went outside and saw the cute scene, Mao sighed dreamily.

“I told him it would work!”


End file.
